In the field of packaging prepared carry-out food for consumption off-premises or at home, it has been common practice to develop packaging which provides protection of the food during customer handling and transport while allowing the prepared food to be maintained at edible temperatures and quality as long as is consistent with the needed protection. In this connection, there Schubert, U.S Pat. No. 4,373,636 to Hoffman and U.S. Pat. No. 4,441,626 to Hall packaging for heated carry-out food which would assist in maintaining the quality of the heated food until ready for off-premises consumption by the consumer.. Also suggested is packaging for prepared food in which the food could be heated by a consumer without removing the same from the box, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,260,060 to Faller.
Notwithstanding many years of effort in this field, there is a need to provide relatively low cost and environmentally suitable packaging for the increasing varieties of carry-out foods and the like prepared for off-premises consumption which securely protects the food while enabling the quality and temperatures to be maintained, i.e. edible temperature, crispness, and the like, without the need for further preparation by the customer.